Ex-Head of Russian Federal Prison Accused of Grafting $52Mln

The former head of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service has been officially accused of grafting approximately $52 million allotted for the purchase of electronic bracelets, Russian Federal Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to investigators, the former official grafted approximately $52 million that had been allocated to the prison services to purchase electronic bracelets.

“Today, investigators have accused the former director of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Alexander Reimer, with fraud, as well as his former deputy, Nikolai Krivolapov, the director for the Center for Information-Technical Provisions and Communications, Viktor Opredelenov, and the general director of a commercial organization, Nikolai Martynov,” Markin said.

The Presnensky District Court in Moscow authorized on Tuesday the arrest of the former director of Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service, Alexander Reimer, who has been accused of large-scale fraud, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the court room.

The accusations of graft come shortly after then governor of Russia's far eastern region of Sakhalin, Alexander Khoroshavin, was charged with bribery earlier this month.

In January Kremlin Administration head Sergei Ivanov said that corruption posed a "direct threat" to Russia's security and sovereignty.

In 2011 then-Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin launched a nationwide anti-graft campaign, leading to tighter control on government officials.